Men’s Hockey Ties RIT, 3-3

Shayne Stockton

Jan 31, 2014

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Senior assistant captain Shayne Stockton (Rochester, N.Y.), sophomore Sean Gustin (Stoneham, Mass.) and freshman Logan Smith (Littleton, Colo.) each scored a goal for the Crusaders as the Holy Cross men's hockey team tied the Rochester Institute of Technology, 3-3, on Friday night at Ritter Arena in Atlantic Hockey action. With the tie, the Crusaders are now 6-16-3 overall (5-10-3 AHA) and are 2-1-1 over the last four games, while the Tigers are now 8-13-4 overall (7-9-2 AHA). The two teams will conclude their two-game series on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 7:00 p.m. at Ritter Arena.

The Crusaders took a 1-0 lead at 4:11 of the first period when Smith knocked in a rebound off a shot by sophomore Matt Vidal (Manorville, N.Y.) for his third goal of the season. Sophomore Jake Bolton (Ellington, Conn.) also tallied an assist on the goal. At 13:40, the Tigers tied the contest at 1-1, when Brad McGowan sent the puck from behind the goal to a waiting Dan Schuler who found the back of the net on the glove side of junior goalie Matt Ginn (Lindsay, Ontario) for his 10th goal of the year. Just 1:21 later, Gustin sent a one-timer past the glove side of RIT goalie Mike Rotolo after receiving a pass from junior Jake Youso (International Falls, Minn.). The goal was Gustin's fifth of the season. Junior Tommy Dwyer (Ridgefield, Conn.) also posted an assist to extend his team-best point streak to five straight games. At 18:19, Dwyer almost increased the Crusader lead to 3-1 when he fired a shot from in front of the net, but Rotolo was able to make the save. With just 33 seconds remaining in the period, RIT tied the game at 2-2 when Todd Skirving scored a power play goal from the side of the net for his sixth goal of the year. RIT outshot Holy Cross, 15-14, while the Tigers went 1-2 on the power play.

At 12:36 of the second period, Stockton skated with the puck from the Crusader blue line to the RIT zone and then fired a wrist shot over the glove side shoulder of Rotolo for his fourth goal of the year. At 16:40, Schuler blasted a shot from the faceoff circle, but Ginn made the glove save to keep the score at 3-2. Holy Cross outshot RIT by a 14-12 margin, while the Crusaders went 0-2 on the man-advantage and the Tigers went 0-1.

RIT tied the contest at 3-3 at 6:24 of the third period when Mike Colavecchia blasted a one-timer while on the power play from the faceoff circle past Ginn for his 11th goal of the season. Neither team was able to score again in regulation as the game went to overtime. With 1:27 left in the overtime period, freshman Mike Barrett (Orland Park, Ill.) fired a shot from the faceoff circle that was saved by Rotolo. With 25 seconds left, Josh Mitchell had an opportunity for RIT but his shot went wide of the net as the game ended in a 3-3 tie.

Ginn made 35 saves, while Rotolo posted 39 saves. Holy Cross outshot RIT, 42-38, while the Tigers went 2-4 on the power play and the Crusaders went 0-5. RIT won 42 faceoffs, while the Crusaders won 33. The Tigers blocked 21 shots and the Crusaders blocked 10. Stockton earned the third star of the game. Ginn played in his 47th consecutive game tonight maintaining his streak that is the 20th longest in NCAA Division I history. Ginn now has 761 saves this season which are the fifth most for a Division I season at the school.

On Saturday, Feb. 15, the Holy Cross men's hockey program will host its fifth annual "Pink the Rink" at the Hart Center during its game versus Connecticut at 7:00 p.m. The team will be wearing a special edition white and pink jersey to show its support for breast cancer awareness. The jerseys will be auctioned off throughout the game with all proceeds going to Pink Revolution, which is an alliance of dedicated individuals with a unified commitment to those touched by breast cancer. For the third straight season, every time the Holy Cross men's hockey team scores a power play goal in the Hart Center, money pledged will benefit PINK Revolution. The Crusaders have scored four power play goals at home. For more information and to donate go here: http://www.powerplaypointsforpink.com/.